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Settling down in Lusaka
John Fallon & the EduSport Foundation team
My new home
I am now in week 2 in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. I got picked up from the airport on time and dropped off at my house ‘straight away’ (after spending an hour trying to find it and picking up random people on the way to show the driver where it was). The house is much better than I expected and is kept very clean and tidy. It is walled all around with an electric fence on top and all windows have iron bars on them and the gate is locked at all times. I’m still unsure whether this makes it safe or highlights it as a good target? I have my own room for now but as there will be other volunteers from a different organisation coming, I may need to share it with them from time to time. Hot water is hit and miss and the shower is broken so I have to use a bowl to shower! I boil drinking water to drink or buy it in the shop, beer is less than $1 a bottle so it serves as a good substitute at times. There are 4 others living in the house, all Zambian and they have made me feel very welcome. I ate shima (maize) 6 times last week, the Zambian way (using your right hand). It is very nice but I still prefer rice, pasta and potatoes and am back using a knife and fork now.
Week 1 at work
First week at work has not been very productive - I found out on day 1 that the computer with all the financial records on it crashed due to a virus and there was no back up! I spent most of last week going in and out of the city trying to get this recovered, get internet connection speed increased (it took 10 minutes to open up gmail one day!) and open a bank account. Welcome to Africa - simple tasks that would take a short time back home can take a very long time here. The trip to the city usually involves stopping off in a few other locations, dropping people off or picking them up etc. As a result, I have had the opportunity to get to know all the project coordinators and learn more about the organisation. I’m looking forward to helping them out wherever I can. This week, while the computer is being fixed, I am working on putting together a 5 year strategy document and writing up a back up and recovery policy, along with preparing some other much needed policies for the organisation.
John Fallon, Sydney & Nyachi (EduSport Finance team)
Week 2 at work
Second week at work has been more productive. We managed to retrieve all the data from the crashed computer and I got Quickbooks downloaded onto my laptop (still having problems with the new accounts computer). I reviewed what reconciliations etc done to date and have put in place a plan to get everything up to date in the next few weeks. Lucky I have got more than 2 weeks on this assignment!
An unexpected field trip
On Sunday the Go Sisters (Edusport program) were running workshops in a number of the communities around Lusaka. A member of the organisation was visiting these so I asked if I could go along. It was good to get out of the office and see what Edusport does first hand. There are a lot of challenges for people growing up in such poor areas and I feel more motivated after seeing the programs first hand. While I was there I got involved in some of the games they play to keep people’s concentration and energy up during the workshop. It is amazing to see so much energy and life in people that have it so tough.
John participating in a workshop game
Snippets about Lusaka
- I walk about 1km and get public transport for about 2km to get home from work. The public transport consists of numerous small 8 seater mini vans converted into 16 seaters - not the most pleasant of journeys when you get the back seat on a hot day!
- Everyone is extremely friendly here in Lusaka and they all speak very good English. They mix it regularly with Nyanga and sometimes throw in some Bemba for good measure! I am learning Nyanga as we speak.
- It is rainy season at the moment so most days have at least one hour long down pour and for the rest of the day its usually cloudy and around 25-30 degrees, its fairly cool at night due to the altitude though which is good.
- There is high poverty and unemployment here; that said, you do not see much begging. Everyone seems to find away to get on with things and you see people earning a crust doing all sorts of things e.g. at most intersections you get guys selling a mix of 4/5 items. I’ve seen one guy selling a pair of shoes, a calculator, a plunger, and a machete as big as my arm! There are guys that clean your car but end up dirtying it more than it was! Other guys direct you into a vacant car spot and expect to be paid for it (still trying to figure this one out?). Women selling veggies, popcorn, corn etc... They all seem to have some way to keep their head above water.
- I have taken a walk around the city and gone for a couple of runs around where I live. The place is all over the shop! You get some stares as there are few Mzungus (white people) about but overall the place seems quite safe. I'm sure they get a good kick out of seeing me running about the place hopping over pot holes and around puddles. A lot of kids shout out or say hi.
Making friends
I joined a running group called the Hash House Harriers Lusaka last week and made arrangements for them to pick me up on Saturday. This guy picked me up and one of the first things he said to me was "I hope you’re thirsty as I have 80 litres of beer in the back"! Score!! Supposedly this group is more about the social scene than the running - 94 people turned up, many with more beer! Good mix of young and old, expats and Zambians – we had about an 8km cross country run through the bush and then had a BBQ and beers after. A good group of people to meet on my first weekend.
Some Zambian friends brought me over to the other side of the city for "the best goat" in Lusaka - it was tasty stuff. It gave us all a serious thirst though so we had some beers on the way home. On another night out with them, I ended up in a club where I was the only mzungu - naturally I busted out some moves, shaking my booty and shouting out "Who's your Daddy?" into the wee hours of the morning! (Just kiding Janers!!). My friends said they'll take me to another club, The Lounge, next week - the locals say this is a good place to get TB (Tuberculosis) as they cram so many people in there! Lucky I didn't pass on that vaccine before I came here!
Had a few beers in the Irish Bar last week - your typical false Irish bar you find in every city – no other Irish in there and nothing like a pub back home!
The holiday before work proper
Before I got here I went on a 4 day Safari around Masaai Mara in Kenya and an 8 day Safari around the Serengeti in Tanzania. Both trips were awesome and I saw some amazing sights including the migration – over 1.5 million wildebeest and another 600,000 or so zebras moving through the Serengeti (I'm sure that count is audited!). Plenty of well fed lions around there these days! Seen all the big 5 (Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo and Rhino) and heaps of other animals. Some days were long on the bus as the roads here are beyond a joke - pot holes bigger in diameter than a car and constant bumping up and down locally described as "An African Massage" - good luck with this Brad and Boxy!!
Highlights of Safari before my visit:
- Obviously seeing so many wild animals!
- Seeing 3 Cheetahs start a hunt and taking down a Gazelle!
- Getting really close to the animals in Masai Mara - the vans here go off road and within 10 metres of the animals (more strict in Serengeti so they stick to trails)
- Walking around an elephant to go the toilet in the campsite near Ngorongoro crater (there were gaurds at this campsite with large rifles to minimise attacks from wild bush pigs!)
- Finding out there were over 20 lions that passed through our campsite in the middle of the night when we were all sleeping (You sleep in the national park with no fences between you and the animals - no armed gaurds at this campsite either!)
- Hearing all sorts of animals and growls in the middle of the night
- Travelling through the Masaai Mara and Serengeti plains
- Sampling the local brew!
- Camping and meeting people on the trip
- Bike tour around Musoma beside Lake Victoria in Tanzania and visiting some of the smaller towns
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